Title

The Ramen Challenge

Broad Question

Does what people know affect how much they eat?

Specific Question

Does knowing the size of a portion affect how much a person eats?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that what is told to the test subject about portion size will affect how much they eat.


Based on a study from the CDC people will eat whatever you put in front of them, no matter how big it is. This is because they expect what is in front of them to be enough, so it is. For that reason I think that when you tell people what to expect, whether it’s big or small, they will believe that and therefore that will affect how much they eat.

Graph of Hypothesis

Hypothesis Graph

Variables

Independent Variable:

The independent variable is portion size.

Dependent Variable:

The dependent variable is the amount people eat.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

~The same food
~The same blindfold
~The same plan
~The same room
~The same flavored noodles
~The same aged test subjects
~The same kind of plate
~The same type of brownies
~The noodles were heated up in the same microwave
~Experiments were conducted in the same month

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General Plan

Potential Problems And Solutions

People not eating the food

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Burns, stab wounds (forks), choking.

Experimental Design

12 Ramen Noodle Packets
2 Brownie Mix Packages
1 container for noodles
1 container for brownies
1 room
20 middle school students


The experiment was conducted to see if what a person is told affects how much they eat. For this experiment need ramen noodles and brownies are needed. You also need containers for the noodles and brownies. At least eight people, four to test the small size and four to test the large size will need to be recruited.The room to conduct the experiment in is another thing that is needed, and in this case the room is the cafeteria. The experiment will be tested during school hours. Safety concerns are choking, stab wounds, and burns. These can be prevented by warning the test subject of potential dangers so they are aware of the risks and will be more careful.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Ramen Noodles	12	Grants	$12.00
Brownies	2	Grants	$10.00
Container for Noodles	1	Home	$0.00
Container for Brownies	1	Home	$0.00
Forks	12	Home	$0.00
Plates	12	Home	$0.00
Napkins	12+	Cafeteria	$0.00

Detailed Procedure

1) Recruit 20 middle schoolers to be in the experiment. Give them a permission slip ( https://docs.google.com/a/students.jbartlett.k12.nh.us/document/d/1I6yMskpenJTygR4zlLnBWAN8pAFFiSGqKq_B8sPDDTA/edit) that their parent can sign so they can participate in the experiment.

2) Purchase chicken flavor ramen noodles, brownies mix, paper plates, and plastic forks at store.

3) Cook one or two cup sized portions of ramen noodles at school in the microwave in the cafeteria.Brownies will be baked at home and brought in the day of the experiment ( every day the experiment is conducted this will be done, if any left over they will be used the next day.)

4) Separate ramen noodles into either 1 cup or 2 cup portions (12 each, portions will change depending on who is being tested) using a measuring cup. Most likely the bathroom sink will be used to drain any extra liquid.

5) Set up the cafeteria and/or conference room by separating the ramen noodles into either 1 cup or 2 cup portions, put them on a paper plate, and put a teaspoon of butter on them (for flavor). Cook the ramen noodles and brownies as said in step 3.


6) Bring the experiment subject into the cafeteria and/or conference room and have them sit down, blindfold them , and keeping the blindfold on the whole time, then put the meal (either small or large, this has been decided ahead of time) in front of them and give them a fork. Say what is written in the script (https://docs.google.com/a/students.jbartlett.k12.nh.us/document/d/1QvtaupQ4SQgx6VF_u8z_7DdmR_BAUHd74ev9CxPgOso/edit)
to the person.

7) After each person has finished eating record how much they have eaten by measuring the amount of noodles left on the plate ( in ounces) and put in the google docs spreadsheet.

8) To test if the person is still hungry ask them if they want a brownie. Record if they said yes or no, and if they said yes how much of the brownie they ate. The unit is ounces.

9) After the person has left finish recording data and throw away paper plate and any noodles that they did not eat.

10) Pack up and store the rest of the noodles and brownies for the next day in container brought from home.

11)Repeat steps 6-10 every day the experiment is conducted. Conduct the experiment over 12 days, testing 2 people each day. Each experimenter will each take one person a day.

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Data Analysis

Graphs

Data Graph

Average Graph

Data Table

Photos

Subject Getting Ready

Subject Eating Noodles

Results

The average amount of ramen noodles eaten by the subjects given a smaller size was 5.2 ounces. The average amount of ramen noodles eaten by the subjects given a larger size was 8 ounces. The maximum amount eaten by the subjects given a larger size was 14 ounces, and the minimum eaten by them was 3. The maximum amount eaten by the subject given a smaller size was 8 ounces, and the minimum eaten by them was 2.

Conclusion

This experiment was designed to test if knowing the size of a portion affects how much a person eats. The results show that what they were told about the size of their portion affected the majority of people. The average for the larger size was 8 ounces. The average for the smaller size was 5.2 ounces.

Discussion

The experiment question was “does knowing the size of a portion affect how much a person eats?”. And it was hypothesized that when told that the meal was small when it was large the subject would eat more and the opposite for the actual small size. The experiment that was conducted answered that question. For the smaller portion the average amount eaten was 5.2 ounces, and the large was 8 ounces. During this experiment and observation it was found that when people cannot use their eyesight then they cannot rely on the rest of their senses to pick up the slack without making a mess. A pattern that was
seen was that it didn’t matter what the test subjects were told, no matter what, they ate until they until they were full.

The relationship between the independent variable conditions and changes in the dependent variable is weak. A test subject can only eat however much they are given, which is the cause and effect relationship that was shown. There have been no previous experiments similar to the one that was conducted, but there have been some related to portion size. These experiments showed that when people are given a visual marker of when to stop eating they know how much to eat. In the experiment we took away that visual reference by blindfolding the test subjects, so that could explain why the results were so scattered.The results are also difficult to explain for that reason.

A challenge that was managed in the design of the experiment was getting available space to conduct the experiment in. In the first trial conducted a problem was test subjects knowing the size of the meal they were eating because of the container it was in. We managed this by finding a different container to put the meal in when the test subjects were being served. At the beginning of the experiment the experimenters found that the large size, 16 ounces, was way too much for any of the test subjects to eat and changed it to 14 ounces. In this experiment being more organized with the materials, set up, and data collection would have improved on the end result. In this experiment no specialized information or technology was needed, except possibly for the iPad to be used as a camera. The knowledge gained through this experiment could be of benefit or use to people who are trying to lose weight. It could tell them that you should keep in mind your portion size. This experiment might not be able to lead to any huge differences in how people live, but it could help the CDC with studies. A new question this experiment could lead to is “do different types of food affect how much you eat?”.

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to find out if what a person is told about the size of their portion affects how much they eat. The test subjects were blindfolded and told that their meal is either small or large. They would then be given the opposite sized portion. The results of the experiment showed that what they were told did affect how much they ate. The average amount eaten for the small size was 5 ounces and the large size was 8.3. This shows that when they thought that their meal was small they ate more of it than when they thought it was large.

Background Research

Portions from the 1950's or later are much smaller than the portions are today.
If you have a visual clue of how much to eat you know when to stop.
By the time children are about 5 years old they have lost the ability to stop eating when they are full and just eat what's in front of them.

References

"The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Combined Effects of Energy Density and Portion Size on Energy Intake in Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013."Cornell Chronicle: Visual Clues Help Us Eat Less." Cornell Chronicle: Visual Clues Help Us Eat Less. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013."Study: Diners Unaware of Plus-Sized Portions." About.com Weight Loss. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.